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Jaitley's phone was not tapped: Shinde

NEW DELHI: Government on Friday rejected allegation of phone-tapping of BJP leader Arun Jaitley and promised to get the full details of the "unauthorised" obtaining of call details of the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

"The government did not authorise anybody to intercept the telephone of the the Leader of the Opposition," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said in a statement in the Upper House, where he came in for sharp criticism by non-Congress members on the issue.

Shinde said, "This was not a case of telephone tapping. The Indian Government is not tapping any member's phone."

Rejecting the statement, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said "it is nothing but reporting of an SHO", as the minister has only chosen to say that investigation is going on and interrogation has taken place.

"Normally, the suspicion goes to the government...How can such activity take place without the knowledge of the government or its consent...Is there anything for government to hide...there is something fishy...there is something more than what meets the eyes. How can you be sure that phone tapping did not take place?" Naidu asked.

Ramgopal Yadav (SP) also wondered as to why a constable required the call data records (CDR) of a big leader like Arun Jaitley. "Who is behind it?" he said, adding doubts have been expressed that CDRs of 100 leaders of both Houses have been taken out.

Shinde said the government will consider the suggestion of the SP member that it should be made mandatory to seek the permission of the Rajya Sabha Chairman before the call detail records of any member is obtained and promised to write to the telephone department in this regard.

He also made it clear that what has been detected is "not the monitoring of telephone conversation, which is ordinarily called tapping, but accessing of the CDR". But, Opposition members suspected the phones of their leaders were being tapped and suspected government's hand in it.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said his name was also in the list of those whose phones were being tapped. — PTI 

Shinde makes yet another gaffe, names Bhandara rape victims

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday made yet another gaffe when he named the victims of the Bhandara rape incident in the Rajya Sabha which had to be expunged at the intervention of the Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley.

Pointing out the gaffe, Jaitley, a senior lawyer, said as per law the victims of rape, that too minors, are not identified and named and their identity should be kept a secret as per Supreme Court guidelines.

“I am sure it is an oversight... Three minor children are being named in the statement of the Home Minister. What should not have been done, has been done.

“Victims named should not have been named. Their names have come out and their identity disclosed. The Home Minister should withdraw his statement and a fresh one be laid in the House,” said Jaitley.

Earlier, Shinde named the three sisters of Bhandara in Maharashtra, who were allegedly raped and murdered recently, in a written statement which was read out by him.

P.J. Kurien, Deputy Chairperson who was in the Chair, told Shinde that Jaitley has raised a “very, very important point.”

“The names of the victim should not have been disclosed. These names of victims are hereby expunged,” he said.

Kurien directed the media also not to name the victims as listed out in the Home Minister’s statement, saying if it is done it will be taken as a matter of privilege.

Shinde thanked Jaitley for pointing out the “inadvertent” error and sought to withdraw the names.

The Rajya Sabha Secretariat later put out a notice providing the orders of the Chair expunging the remarks made in the Home Minister’s statement.

Earlier goof-ups

This is not the first time that Shinde has landed himself in trouble over his remarks made in Parliament as well as outside.

His taunt against actor-turned politician Jaya Bachchan (SP) during a debate on Assam violence in August last that it was not a subject matter of film had evoked strong condemnation from Opposition members.

After an uproar in the House, Shinde was forced to eat his own words and apologise to Bachchan saying she is his sister.

The Home Minister had earlier courted controversy by addressing Pakistani terrorist Hafis Saeed as “Shri” and faced flak from various quarters.

Shinde also came under sharp attack from BJP over his recent “Hindu terror” remarks made at the Congress Chintan Shivir at Jaipur and later forced to make a clarification just ahead of the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.

The Home Minister stoked controversy during the protests over the Delhi gang-rape incident when he appeared to compare them with Maoists.

Shinde also remarked recently that the controversy over the coal block allotment will be “forgotten” in the days to come, just like the Bofors and petrol pump distribution scams, saying public memory was short. — PTI

52 dead in Bangladesh riots over war crimes verdict

DHAKA: Fresh clashes erupted on Friday in Bangladesh, bringing the number of people killed to 52 in violence triggered by convictions for Islamist leaders over war crimes committed during the 1971 independence war.

A rickshawpuller was killed after hundreds of pro-government supporters and followers of the rival Jamaat-e-Islami party clashed with sticks at a market in the northern district of Gaibandha, local police chief Nahidul Islam said.

Security has been tightened around thousands of mosques across the Muslim-majority nation ahead of weekly prayers on Friday, with border guards deployed in major cities.

On Thursday, clashes flared across the country after Jamaat's vice president was found guilty of murder, religious persecution and rape by a war crimes tribunal hearing cases dating back to the 1971 independence conflict.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee, now a firebrand preacher, was the third person to be convicted by the court whose previous verdicts have been met with outrage from Islamists who say the process is more about settling scores than delivering justice.

At least 35 persons were killed in the violence on Thursday, according to an AFP toll compiled after talking to police in the 15 districts where protests turned deadly.

A policeman was the latest to die of his wounds, raising the number of security personnel killed to five.

Twenty-three of those killed on Thursday were shot after police opened fire on thousands of rampaging Jamaat supporters who attacked law-enforcers with sticks and stones.

According to Sultana Kamal, head of rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, it was the deadliest political day of violence in the impoverished country's history since winning its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The latest death on Friday brought the overall toll to 52 since the tribunal delivered its first verdict on January 21.

Jamaat, which rejected the verdict as politically motivated, has said 50 of its "innocent" supporters were on Thursday shot dead by police who "hunted them like birds".

But Kamal blamed Jamaat supporters for "terror" attacks on the police.

Police on Friday have banned a number of planned demonstrations at several trouble spots while authorities in the country's biggest mosque, Baitul Mokarram, have locked some of the gates in a bid to limit numbers.

Security has been stepped up at Hindu villages after homes and temples came under attack by Islamists in the southern Noakhali and Chittagong districts, killing one old Hindu man, police said.

"We've (deployed) extra policemen in all the temples and Hindu areas to prevent attack," said Robiul Islam, a senior police officer in Chittagong.

Secular protesters, who erupted in jubilation as news of Sayedee's sentence filtered through on Thursday, are set to hold a celebration rally in a central Dhaka intersection.

The war crimes tribunal has been tainted by controversies and allegations that it is targeting only the opposition with trumped-up charges. Rights groups say its legal procedures fall short of international standards.

The government rejects the accusations, saying the tribunal is independent and the trials are fair and necessary to heal the wounds of the war that it says killed three million people.

It accuses Jamaat leaders of being part of pro-Pakistani militias blamed for much of the 1971 carnage.

Independent estimates put the war toll much lower, between 300,000 and 500,000. — AFP

Strike hits normal life in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR: Normal life in Kashmir was affected on Friday due to a strike called by a group of separatists in the Valley, demanding return of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s body to his family.

Shops, banks, petrol pumps and other business establishments remained closed due to the strike called by Majlis Mashawarat (consultation committee), of the separatist group.

While most public transport remained off roads, cabs and autorickshaws were plying on the roads as usual.

Although schools and colleges in Kashmir open on March 1 every year after three months of winter vacations, the authorities have already extended the vacations till March 11.

The Majlis, which has both factions of Hurriyat Conference, JKLF, Bar Association and Dukhtaran-e-Millat as constituents, came into being following execution of Guru in Tihar Jail last month.

People have been asked to hoist red ribbons on shops, houses and vehicles on Saturday as part of the protest. — PTI